1. Field of the Invention
Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present invention relate to service distribution, and more particularly, to distributing a plurality of services received through a network to two or more service reproduction apparatuses.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the advancement of communication technology, various content, such as application programs, are being provided to broadcast receiving apparatuses and mobile devices through wired or wireless networks.
For example, while watching a broadcast on a digital television (TV) at home, a user can pop up an electronic program guide (EPG) screen in order to obtain program information of other channels and can execute a relevant application program in order to obtain current weather, traffic, and securities information. In addition, the user is in a television commerce (T-commerce) environment in which the user can purchase goods, make payments, and do shopping using a remote control. Therefore, while watching the broadcast, the user can purchase desired goods by executing an authentication or billing application program.
The broadcast that the user is watching, the EPG screen, the weather information, the traffic information, the securities information, and the authentication or billing application program are ‘services’ provided to the user through the digital TV.
The services are managed by respective servers and can be provided to the user through a network having a broad frequency band. Examples of the related art servers are illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B.
Referring to FIG. 1A, a multimedia data provision server 110 provides multimedia data, such as broadcast signals or audio/video (AV) streams, an authentication/billing server 120 authenticates a user or an apparatus and performs a billing function, and a content list provision server 130 provides a list of various types of content. There may also be a server which can provide all the functions of the above servers. In FIG. 1A, this server is referred to as a ‘service server’ 100.
The service server 100 transmits services to a service reproduction apparatus, e.g., a digital TV 150, of a user through a first broadband network 140. Then, the user can select and reproduce a desired service using a remote control 155.
Referring to FIG. 1B, the service server 100 transmits services to a mobile device 160 of a user through a second broadband network 145. Then, the user can select and reproduce a desired service using the mobile device 160 no matter where the user is.
As described above, when a user is in an environment where the user is provided with various types of services and can select and reproduce a specific service, the user can conveniently use desired services only after securing a list of services provided by a plurality of service providers and relevant information.
In this case, according to the related art service provision method illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the digital TV 150 displays a list of content to overlap on a multimedia data reproduction screen. In addition, a user cannot receive or view the list of content, which is provided by the digital TV 150, using another device.
That is, according to the related art method, since a user can reproduce a plurality of services provided through a single broadband network using only one device, the services are displayed overlapped on each another, thereby making it less convenient for the user to select and use desired services.